Toilet flushing arrangement

ABSTRACT

A flushing arrangement ( 30 ) including an opened topped housing ( 32 ) surrounding the flush valve ( 12 ). An opening ( 40 ) is provided in a lower part of the housing ( 32 ) with a selectively openable gate ( 44 ). The arrangement ( 30 ) is configured such that for a low volume flush the gate ( 44 ) is closed and only water in the housing ( 32 ) or located thereabove will be flushed, and for a high volume flush the gate ( 44 ) is open wherein substantially all of the water in the cistern ( 20 ) above the lowest part of the opening ( 40 ) is flushed.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional application of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/852,558, filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 24, 2004, entitled “TOILET FLUSHING ARRANGEMENT”, which claims priority from United Kingdom Application Serial No.: 0312014.4 filed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2003. This divisional application claims priority to the aforementioned patents applications which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes in their entireties.

This invention concerns a toilet flushing arrangement, and also a toilet flushing system incorporating such an arrangement.

With conventional flushing toilets, a significant amount of water is used with each flush which after certain uses is not wholly required and is thus wasteful of water. Dual flushing arrangements are available providing for low volume and high volume flushes, but these are generally of relatively complex configuration. Furthermore, such arrangements usually cannot be retrofitted, and therefore if dual flushing is required, new flushing systems are needed for each toilet at a location.

According to the present invention there is provided a toilet flushing arrangement, the arrangement comprising an open topped sleeve locatable in a toilet cistern to surround the flush outlet and to extend to a required height in the cistern, with a selectively openable opening provided in a lower part of the sleeve, such that the arrangement provides two flushing modes: a low volume flush with the opening closed, wherein substantially only the water within the sleeve plus the volume of any water located above the top of the sleeve, is flushed; and a high volume flush with the opening open, wherein substantially the volume of the water in the cistern, whether or not in the sleeve, above the lowest part of the opening, is flushed.

A closure may be provided, selectively locatable over the opening to close same. The closure may be spring urged to a closed position. The closure may be located on the outside of the sleeve, and may be pivotally mounted thereto.

A control arrangement may be provided such that a first operation thereof causes a low volume flush, and a second operation thereof causes a high volume flush.

The control arrangement may be provided with a pivotally movable handle, such that a first pivotal movement thereof causes a low volume flush, and a further pivotal movement in the same direction causes a high volume flush.

The control arrangement may be configured such that after a first pivotal movement of the handle the spring urging of the closure can be felt and must be overcome to cause a high volume flush.

The control arrangement may include a cam arrangement enagagable with a control mechanism for the flush valve, such that pivotal movement of the control mechanism causes pivotal movement of the cam arrangement.

The sleeve may have a base, and a hole may be provided therein, or can be formed therein, to locate around the flush outlet.

The sleeve may have markings and/or areas of weakness provided at an upper part thereof to permit the sleeve to be formed to a required height.

Alternatively, or in addition selectively removable openings or cut-outs may be provided in an upper part of the sleeve to allow the effective height of the sleeve to be selected.

As a further possibility, the sleeve could include a further sleeve part mounted in a telescopic manner thereto, and the effective height of the sleeve can be adjusted by telescopic movement of the further sleeve part.

The sleeve may be formed with areas or lines of weakness on each side thereof to permit the opening to be provided on a respective required side of the sleeve for either left handed or right handed operation.

The sleeve and flush valve may be formed as a single unit. Alternatively, the sleeve may be fitted around an existing flush valve.

The invention also provides a toilet flushing system, the system comprising a cistern, a flush valve, control apparatus for the flush valve, and a toilet flushing arrangement according to any of the preceding twelve paragraphs operably located in the system.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cutaway view of a conventional toilet flushing system;

FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. 1 but incorporating a first toilet flushing arrangement according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of part of the system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of part of the system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatical cross-sectional view through part of the system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic front view of the system of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic perspective views of components of a control arrangement of the system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic perspective view of part of a second system according to the invention;

FIG. 11 is a similar view to FIG. 10 of part of a third system according to the invention, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are diagrammatic side views of further parts of the third system.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional toilet flushing system 10 with a flush valve 12 operated by a lever 14 which causes pivotal movement of a bar 16 which connects to the valve 12 by a link 18. In use the cistern 20 in which the system 10 is located automatically fills through a refill tube 22 to a required height. This required height can be adjusted using the knob 24. Filling takes place into an overflow pipe 26 which can receive water in the event that excess water is supplied into the cistern 20.

To flush the system 10, the lever 14 is pushed downwardly causing pivotal movement about its mounting 28. This raises the bar 16 and hence link 18 and causes the flush valve 12 to operate. Following flushing, the flush valve 12 will automatically reclose and the cistern 20 will be refilled through the tube 22. There are of course other conventional types of flushing systems, incorporating for instance a floating ball valve or other type of floating valves which cause the cistern to stop filling when a required water level therein is detected.

FIGS. 2 to 9 show a first toilet flushing arrangement 30 according to the invention fitted to the system 10 shown in FIG. 1. The arrangement 30 comprises an open topped housing 32 with an opening 33 in the base 34 thereof through which flushing water can pass. In plan view the housing 32 has a generally circular front section 36 extending from a smaller generally rectangular rear section 38. These shapes are chosen so as to not cover and thus permit free access to, the conventional mounting holes 39 for the cistern 20. An opening 40 is provided on the side of the housing 32 towards the base 34 thereof, on the left hand side as shown in FIG. 2.

A closure 42 is provided for the opening 40 in the form of a gate 44 which is pivotally mounted by projections 46 thereon to the outside of the housing 32. An upwardly extending bar 48 is provided at the free end of the gate 44, which mounts towards its upper end one end of a spring 50. The other end of the spring 50 is mounted to a hole adjacent the top of the housing 32 on an opposite side thereof. The spring 50 urges the gate 44 to a closed position.

A control arrangement 52 is provided for selective opening of the gate 44 as follows. The control arrangement 52 connects to the lever 14, and includes a rectangular plate 54 which is mounted in the cistern 20. A shaft 56 extends from the lever 14 through a hole 58 in the plate 54. A cam member 60 is mounted on the free end of the shaft 56 within the cistern. The cam member comprises a lower part 62 providing a cam surface engageable against the bar 16 towards the left hand end thereof, as shown in FIG. 2. The cam member 60 also comprises a diametrically opposite upper part 64 in the form of a finger with an opening 66 therein to receive one end of a cable 68 which connects to a hole 70 provided at the upper end of the bar 48.

The bar 16 is pivotally mounted towards its left hand end as shown in FIG. 2 by a projection 72 on the plate 54 which engages in a hole 74 provided on a projecting part 76 of the bar 16. The end of the bar 16 extending from the projecting part 76 is substantially straight and engages with the cam surface of the lower part 62.

In use, if only a low volume flush is required, the lever 14 is pressed downwardly until any particular resistance is felt. This causes flushing in a conventional manner with the cam member 60 engaging against the bar 16 lifting the link 18 and hence flush valve 12, thereby causing water to be flushed into the toilet. The water flushed is however only the volume within the housing 32 and also the volume spaced above the top of the housing 32 i.e. that between the lines 78 and 80 in FIG. 6.

When it is required to have a higher volume of flush, the lever 14 is pushed further down against the felt resistance, which is in fact provided by the spring 50. This causes further rotation of the cam member 60, which does not cause further pivoting of the bar 16 as the cam member 60 will be moving from the position shown by dotted lines in FIG. 8. This rotation does though cause the cable 68 to pull the bar 48 away from the housing 32 against the force of the spring 50, and hence open the gate 44. Therefore in this flush all the water above the line 82 (FIG. 6) which is level with the bottom of the opening 40, will flush, irrespective of whether this water is in the housing 32 or outside thereof.

FIG. 10 shows an alternative housing 84 of a second arrangement, which housing 84 in this instance is cylindrical. A hole 86 which could be cut by an installer is shown, which would locate around the flush outlet of a cistern. Whilst in FIG. 5 the flush valve 12 is shown as a single unit with the housing 32, the arrangement can readily be retrofitted to an existing toilet flushing system with a housing such as the type 32 or the type 84.

FIGS. 11 to 13 show components of a third arrangement. FIG. 11 shows a housing 90 which in plan view has an arcuate end 92, which would normally be located towards the rear of a cistern, with two inclined converging side walls 94 extending from the ends thereof, which are connected by a curved apex 96. A panel 98 is provided in each of the walls delimited by a line of weakness 100. A respective one of the panels 98 can be removed to provide respectively left handed or right handed operation of the arrangement as required. Further, selectively removable openings 99 are provided in an upper part of the housing 90 to allow the effective height of the housing to be selected.

FIG. 12 shows a closure 102 which can be mounted to respectively selectively close either of the openings formed by removal of a respective one of the panels 98. The closure 102 has two vertical inwardly facing pins 104 locatable in a semi-circular recess 106 of a hinge plate 108 shown in FIG. 13. The plate 108 is mountable to the housing 90 adjacent a respective opening by a mounting flange 110 using for instance holes 112 in the flange 110, or using glue. A bar 114 extends from the top and bottom of the closure 102 for engagement with an operating arrangement similar to that shown for the arrangement 30.

Various other modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, an upper part of the housing could be provided with markings and/or lines of weakness to enable the housing to be cut to a required height for a particular toilet system. Alternatively, selectively removable openings or cut outs can be provided in an upper part of the housing which could be removed as required to provide an effective top height of the housing.

There are thus described arrangements which provide for a simple yet effective way of providing a dual flush in a toilet flushing system. The arrangements can be selected to provide a required volume of water in a low volume flush. The arrangements can readily be retrofitted to existing toilets, or supplied new as a complete unit. The arrangements are of relatively simple construction and can thus be inexpensively and robustly manufactured.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon. 

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 17. A toilet flushing arrangement comprising an open topped sleeve locatable in a toilet cistern to surround the flush outlet, with a selectively openable opening provided in a lower part of the sleeve, such that the arrangement provides two flushing modes: a low volume flush with the opening closed, wherein substantially only the water within the sleeve plus the volume of any water located above the top of the sleeve, is flushed; and a high volume flush with the opening open, wherein substantially the volume of the water in the cistern, whether or not in the sleeve, above the lowest part of the opening is flushed, a control arrangement being provided with a pivotally moveable handle, such that a first pivotal movement thereof causes a rotation of a cam member that rotates a lever bar resulting in said low volume flush, and further pivotal movement of said handle in the same direction causes said cam to open a closure member covering said selectively openable opening to allow said high volume flush.
 18. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 17 wherein said cam member is rotatably attached to a shaft fixedly attached to said movable handle such that pivotal movement in the handle produces pivotal movement in said cam member.
 19. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 17 wherein said closure member is movably connected to a biasing member for holding the closure member in a closed position over said selectively openable opening until said further pivotal movement of said cam member occurs opening said closure member from said selectively openable to allow said high volume flush.
 20. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 17 wherein said cam member has first and second lobes, the first lobe rotating said lever bar in said low volume flush and said second lobe rotating a linkage assembly during said high volume flush.
 21. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 20 wherein said lever bar includes first and second ends, the first end engaging said first lobe and second end adjustably connected to a flush valve, a pivot point is located in said lever bar between said first and second ends such that first pivotal movement in said handle provides downward movement in said first lobe of said cam member resulting in downward movement in said first end of lever bar resulting in upward movement of said second end, thereby raising the flush valve for a low volume flush.
 22. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 20 wherein said linkage assembly comprises first and second links, the first link being attached to said second lobe of said cam member and to said second link, the second link being further connected to said closure member such that rotation of the second lobe results in rotation of the first and second links thereby opening the selectively openable opening for a high volume flush.
 23. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 19 wherein said closure member includes a pair of vertical pins rotatably attached to said housing.
 24. A toilet flushing arrangement comprising: an open top housing surrounding a flush outlet having a high volume flush opening along the side of said housing; a control arrangement rotably connected to a cam assembly having first and second lobes; the first lobe rotating a first linkage assembly during a low volume flush and the second lobe rotating a second linkage assembly during a high volume flush, the second linkage assembly being connected to a selectively operable gate covering said high volume flush opening during a low volume flush and is rotated away from the high volume opening during a high volume flush.
 25. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said gate is biased to a closed position by a biasing member.
 26. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 25 wherein said biasing member is a spring.
 27. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said first linkage assembly further comprises a pivotal bar having first and second ends separated by a pivot point between first and second ends, the first end connectable to said first lobe and said second end of said pivotal bar being connectable to a flush valve.
 28. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said second linkage assembly further comprises a cam link and a gate link, the cam link being connectable to said second lobe and said gate link being connectable to said selectively operable gate such that rotation of said second cam lobe produces movement of said gate link and cam link resulting in the opening of said selectively operable gate.
 29. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 characterized in that the control arrangement is provided such that a first operation thereof causes a low volume flush, and a second operation thereof causes a high volume flush.
 30. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 29 characterized in that the control arrangement is with a pivotally movable handle, such that a first pivotal movement thereof causes a low volume flush, and further pivotal movement in the same direction causes a high volume flush.
 31. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said selectively operable gate includes a pair of vertical pins rotatably attached to said housing.
 32. The toilet flushing arrangement according to claim 30 characterized in that the control arrangement is configured such that after a first pivotal movement the handle a spring urging of the selectively operable gate can be felt and must be overcome to cause a high volume flush.
 33. A toilet flushing assembly having multi-volume flush capability comprising: a housing positioned in a toilet tank surrounding an outlet valve, the housing having a high volume opening near the base thereof; a closure member for the high volume opening, the closure when in use being moveable between a closed position blocking flow through the opening and an open position allowing flow through the opening; a lever arrangement connectable to a cam assembly connectable to the outlet valve for both a high volume and low volume flush, the cam assembly also being connectable to said closure member to move the closure member to its open position to permit flow through the opening for a high volume flush, such that rotation of the lever arrangement results in a first rotation of said cam assembly producing a low volume flush and further rotation of the lever arrangement to a second rotation of the cam assembly in the same direction producing a high volume flush.
 34. The toilet flushing assembly of claim 33 wherein said cam assembly includes a first lobe separated from a second lobe by a pivot point, the first lobe being connectable to the outlet valve and the second lobe being connectable to the closure member such that rotation of the first lobe results in said low volume flush and rotation of the second lobe results in said high volume flush.
 35. The toilet flushing assembly of claim 34 wherein the distance from the pivot point to the perimeter of said first and second lobes is greater for said second lobe than said first lobe.
 36. The toilet flushing assembly of claim 33 wherein said cam assembly includes a first lobe connected to a first linkage assembly comprising a pivotal bar having first and second ends separated by a bar pivot point between first and second bar ends, the first bar end connected to said first lobe and said second bar end being connected to said flush outlet, further wherein said cam assembly includes a second lobe connected to a second linkage assembly comprising a cam link and a closure link, the cam link being connected to said second lobe and said closure link being connected to said closure member such that rotation of said second cam lobe produces movement of said closure and cam links resulting in the opening of said closure member. 